diff --git a/confluent_client/doc/man/noderun.ronn b/confluent_client/doc/man/noderun.ronn
index 626bb685..d8298ffd 100644
--- a/confluent_client/doc/man/noderun.ronn
+++ b/confluent_client/doc/man/noderun.ronn
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ themselves, see nodeshell(8).
   `n4:  01 10 00`  
   `n2:  01 10 00`  
 
+
+* If wanting to use literal {} in the command, they must be escaped by doubling:
+  `# noderun n1-n4 "echo {node} | awk '{{print $1}}'"`
+
 ## SEE ALSO
 
 nodeshell(8)
diff --git a/confluent_client/doc/man/nodeshell.ronn b/confluent_client/doc/man/nodeshell.ronn
index 7c4c57ba..6dc81ccb 100644
--- a/confluent_client/doc/man/nodeshell.ronn
+++ b/confluent_client/doc/man/nodeshell.ronn
@@ -27,7 +27,10 @@ as stderr, unlike psh which combines all stdout and stderr into stdout.
   `n4: hi`  
 
 * Setting a new static ip address temporarily on secondary interface of four nodes:
-  `# nodeshell n1-n4 ifconfig eth1 172.30.93.{n1}`  
+  `# nodeshell n1-n4 ifconfig eth1 172.30.93.{n1}`
+
+* If wanting to use literal {} in the command, they must be escaped by doubling:
+  `# nodeshell n1-n4 "ps | awk '{{print $1}}'"`
   
 ## SEE ALSO
 
diff --git a/confluent_server/confluent/plugins/configuration/attributes.py b/confluent_server/confluent/plugins/configuration/attributes.py
index 2e7ddf98..36baf330 100644
--- a/confluent_server/confluent/plugins/configuration/attributes.py
+++ b/confluent_server/confluent/plugins/configuration/attributes.py
@@ -183,8 +183,10 @@ def _expand_expression(nodes, configmanager, inputdata):
             pernodeexpressions[expanded[0]] = expanded[1]
         for node in util.natural_sort(pernodeexpressions):
             yield msg.KeyValueData({'value': pernodeexpressions[node]}, node)
-    except ValueError as e:
-        raise exc.InvalidArgumentException(str(e))
+    except (SyntaxError, ValueError) as e:
+        raise exc.InvalidArgumentException(
+            'Bad confluent expression syntax (must use "{{" and "}}" if not '
+            'desiring confluent expansion): ' + str(e))